Despite the limits of practicing in the cold weather last week, the Cavalier track and field team came out strong in their only home meet of the season Saturday. The sunny day carried a pleasant breeze, and Virginia stormed the field, winning the Lou Onesty/Milton Abramson Invitational meet by posting totals of 191 points on the women's side and 148 on the men's.
Saturday's meet was by far the most impressive yet this season for Virginia, and with ACC championships next weekend, the Cavaliers appear to be peaking at just the right time.
"It's been a slow start to the season for me," graduate student Inhar Chong said after winning the discus with a throw of 42.86 meters. "This weekend was actually better for me, so I'm just waiting for ACC championships next weekend. Hopefully I will peak when it counts."
Chong was one of eight athletes who finished first in their events. Freshman Kellen Blassingame took first in the men's 400-meter dash with a time of 48.24 seconds. Both men's and women's 4x100-meter relay teams, senior weight thrower Eliese Mitchell, men's pole vaulter Greg Blair and senior women's pole vaulter Vika Osipenko also took first-place finishes. Senior sprinter/long jumper Kiamesha Otey and sprinter Scott Kimball took multiple first-place finishes.
"I feel a lot better now than I did the first two weeks," coach Randy Bungard said of the way his team is performing. "We've had a lot of personal records set today [including] Scott Kimball in the 100 -- I checked the winds and they were all wind legal. Kiamesha jumped well in the long jump, and she finally got down to where she needs to be in the 100."
Kimball shaved a full tenth of a second off his personal best in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes despite the difficultiesof practicing in the cold weather leading up to Saturday's meet.
"It's a personal record," Kimball said of his 10.531-second finish in the 100-meter dash. "I felt like it was a pretty good race. When you're training in cold weather it is tough to sprint, so you don't get a lot of technique practice."
Senior javelin thrower Brian Kollar, whose practice also was effected by the weather, handily won his event, but was far from satisfied with his mark.
"Because of the weather, I've only thrown a few times this year," Kollar said, explaining his frustration with his winning throw of 65.75 meters. "My timing is real off. My PR is 74 meters so that's why I'm not so happy about it. I'm just working through the technique of throwing -- it's not all just grip and rip which is what I was trying to do" Saturday.
The Cavaliers head into the ACC championships next weekend on the heels of their only first place finish of the season.
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